Showing posts with label Light the Night. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Light the Night. Show all posts

Monday, October 17, 2011

Week Two: Disney Princess Half Marathon Training

Week Two

Monday – yoga

There were significantly less people in this class than there was last week. I assume it was because of the holiday weekend (Happy Thanksgiving to Canada!). I was okay with that; it meant more help from the teacher when I was obviously doing a pose wrong. Happens often. I’m new. I expected the class to be the exact same, in terms of poses, as it was last time, but it wasn’t! There were some new poses in there and we didn’t do a few that were done the last time. Honestly, I’ve never been to yoga classes twice in a row before. Yoga Mondays has never existed before in my life! Cheers to more fun yoga classes!

Tuesday – rest

I went into Boston to meet up with some other bloggers in the area! We had a great time and I can’t wait til the next time we get together!


Wednesday – run walk

I was supposed to do a 30-minute run, but I didn’t feel well all day. When I got home from work, I didn’t have the energy for a run, but took the dogs for a walk instead. I figured it was better than sitting on my butt.

30 mins - 1.27 miles  (23:38/mi)

Thursday – walk

Light the Night walk in Boston. Two laps around Boston Common (about 2.2 miles) with the dogs.




2.2 miles - 1:06 mins (30:22/mi)

Friday – run

This almost didn’t happen. I woke up and couldn’t stand upright. After tweaking my back lifting a chair after work and then being pulled by inquisitive dogs all night during the walk through Boston, my back wasn’t feeling so well. I had to call out of work. Around noon I was finally about to get out of bed and walk a little bit. By 5pm I didn’t have sharp pains anymore, just slight soreness in my back, so I attempted a run.

It ended up being a great run. I don’t know when I’ll ever say that again so savor it. It might be cheating because it was raining so I did it on the treadmill, but I’ll take what I can get! I did a pyramid of speed work – my first speed work run ever! Walking at 3mph for 1 min in between each run interval which I did as follows: 4, 4, 5, 5, 5.5, 5.5, 6, 5.5, 5.5, 5, 5, 4, 4. Each run interval was 1 min. Except the 4 mph ones were at 2 mins. Make sense? In my head I planned the 6 mph interval for 30 seconds. I didn’t think I could do it. But when I got to 30, I was okay and decided to push it to 45. Once I got there, I figured I couldn’t back down now and went for the full minute. I did it!

30 mins - 1.95 miles (15:23/mi)

Saturday – rest

My Goddaughter’s birthday party. There was a bouncy house. I may or may not have bounced the hell out of myself. You can’t prove anything.

Unless there are pictures.






Okay, so there were pictures... 

Sunday – long run

This was my second "long run" of the training cycle. I'm getting more comfortable with this running thing. This was just shy of a 5K distance, and I didn't feel nearly as worn out and tired as I have in the past running 5Ks. I did a run 2 walk 2 interval system the entire time. It seemed as though each time it was time for me to run, it was uphill and every time I was walking, it was flat or downhill. Figures.

I should have gone earlier in the day because starting at 5:30 pm meant it got progressively darker as I went on. I thought ahead, though, and wore a bright yellow shirt. Which, as it turns out, was a good thing. I took a picture of myself when I was almost home and you can barely see me, but you can see my shirt! And I didn’t get hit by a car! Plus one.

Next time I'll bring a headlamp.
At one point during this run, it said I was running at 32 mph. I can promise you that didn’t happen. I wonder how much that threw off my average pace.

3.00 miles – 54:04 (18:01/mi)


Week two, done. I don't know how I'm going to handle 4 miles next week. The longest distance running I've done is a 5K. It will be interesting. I'm doing a 5K that morning anyway, so I suppose I'll just tack on the extra mile after the race. Once the 5K is over, 1 mile won't seem as daunting.


Right?
Oct 10 - Oct 16

Light The Night 2011 Walk


Back in July I started raising money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Light the Night walk in Boston Common. The goal of the walk was to raise money for cancer and pay tribute to those battling cancer and commemorate those who have lost loved ones. I was lucky enough to be walking with a good friend, Alyson, who survived her battle with cancer and has been cancer free since December 2010.

Since July, I raised over $125 for the cause and became a Champion for a Cure. Our team as a whole raised over $2000 and we were awarded with a banner to carry during the walk. Each person on our team raised over $100 and were given a t-shirt memorializing the night, a bracelet allowing us access to a food tent and a balloon that varied in color depending on your status of a survivor (white), a supporter (red), or in memory of the loss of a loved one (gold).

When we arrived, the entire Boston Common was filled with tents, people and light filled balloons.


We checked in and got our bracelets. Then we headed over to get our t-shirts and balloons. We met up with the rest of the team and got ready to start the race.


I brought my dogs with me on the walk to give them some exercise and excitement for the night. And there certainly was excitement. There were so many people there and Finn was in heaven. Snickers just kind of went with the flow, but Finn was going in every direction. He’s a handful, that’s for sure!



The walk was 2 loops around Boston Common. Each loop was about 1.1 miles making the entire walk 2.2 miles. The first lap was very slow since there were so many people around. As we made our way around the Common it started to thin out and we had more room for the dogs and less pulling since there weren’t as many butts to sniff.


When we finished, we took pictures at the finish line and hung out and talked for a while


When we got back to the car, we decided to let our balloons go.


I felt very blessed to be a part of this walk, not only as a friend, but also as a supporter of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. At one point during the race, Alyson mentioned that she was so happy to see so many red balloons. I was shocked, and thought she said it the wrong way. I said, “I’d rather see more white balloons. That means more survivors”. She said, “Oh, I know, but seeing so man red balloons means none of these people have cancer. That’s the good part here”. This woman amazes me every day and with simple comments like that, she shows how special she is. I’m lucky enough to call her my friend.


In case you’re interested in supporting a great person and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, we are still able to raise money until January 2012. My fundraising page is still up and you can still donate. Please, if you can, support this cause. 

Sunday, July 24, 2011

I support my friends....do you?


My co-worker and close friend, Alyson, was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma last summer right around this time. She fought her battle in about 5 months of intense chemotherapy and is now cancer free. (!!!) She is walking in the Light the Night evening walk in October and I am lucky enough to part of her team.

“Light The Night Walk is The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's evening walk and fundraising event. It is the nation's night to pay tribute and bring hope to thousands of people battling blood cancers and to commemorate loved ones lost.” (source)

If you can, please visit my fundraising page and make a donation to support my participation in the Light The Night Walk and help save lives!

If you’re the type to need motivation, I’ve got just the thing. Alyson has bracelets that she is selling for $5 and the money is going straight to our Light the Night fundraising. In fact, you can just go straight to my fundraising page and donate there. Once you’ve donated, please let me know via e-mail (runaroundsara [at] gmail {dot} com) and I will get your info to send you a bracelet.

In support of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma
After I saw these bracelets and wore mine for about a week, I decided I wanted bracelets of my own. I know, monkey see, monkey do. It’s common for me.

In support of...well...running :)
The text says "I run around...do you?"
Same deal. Donate $5 you get one of these bracelets. Just donate to my fundraising page and let me know by e-mail and I will send you a bracelet. For every $5 you donate, you get a bracelet. You can choose the bracelet that you’d like.

Any donation amount is accepted. If you don’t want a bracelet, or only want to donate $1, we will take it! Every little bit helps!

If you want to join us in walking the Light the Night walk to support and raise money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society please do! The walk is in Boston, MA at the Boston Common on October 13th at 7:00pm. You can click on the link “Walk With Us” at the top of my fundraising page to become part of the team.

Alyson’s life was saved by the amazing doctors and nurses at Mass General Hospital in Boston. It is the walks like these that raise money in support of various types of cancer that helped her and her family learn more about her Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and helped her make an informed decision about her treatment options.

Please support this cause if you can.
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